Christmas Spirits
by Aishuu
Summary: [COMPLETE] Christmas, Seigaku style! It's Ryoma's birthday, too, and the Seigaku team is going to throw a party... and then Inui gets out the mistletoe. Features Hyotei, St. Rudolph's and Fudoumine.
1. Part 1

A Christmas Spirits

By Aishuu

Note: **yamibakura** offered a challenge - I didn't make it first, but I think this is still fun. Warning: Total insanity, Seigaku style. I'm hoping to have the second part done tomorrow.  
Let me know what ya think. Pairings have yet to be decided. Yeah, flying by the seat of my pants here.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Oishi was trying very hard not to laugh, but the sight of Tezuka Kunimitsu with a pink apron around his waist, meticulously measuring out chocolate chips, was trying his self-control.  
  


Tezuka's expression was as disciplined as ever, but around his eyes a hint of frustration was starting to show, and his former vice captain knew that finding amusement at his difficulty would be less than polite. Still, it was nice to know that there was something Tezuka found difficult.  
  


From the nearby counter, the CD player blasted the Christmas songs that Kikumaru had programmed. Oishi was rather enjoying the different interpretation, but he could tell from occasional glance Tezuka was casting it that Rockappella Christmas songs weren't fulfilling Tezuka's rather traditional demands on the Christmas season. Strange that Tezuka wasn't a bit more open minded, especially considering Tezuka was a closet Gackt fan. Not that Oishi was going to point that out with this crowd in the house.  
  


Inui had firmly been shoved out of the kitchen after proposing a few "additions" to the recipes which no one (with the exception of their host, Fuji) would dare to try, but Kawamura, Fuji and Kikumaru were crammed in the kitchen, with them, a tight fit. From the living room, he could hear Kaidou and Momoshirou debating (rather loudly) the appropriate way to hang garland.  
  


All in all, it was bringing out a warm fuzzy feeling in Oishi. Studying for entrance exams was going to take a lot of time, and there wasn't going to be many chances to be together before the third years graduated in April for them to spend together. 

"No, Fuji!" he heard Kikumaru and Kawamura say at the same time, and he turned with a bit of trepidation to see what the teams' tensai had gotten into now. A part of Oishi was wondering if it would have been a good idea to force Fuji out of the cooking area as well, as from what he'd seen and heard, Fuji was a legendary killer cook. Fuji seemed unable to resist "experimenting" and when that was combined with his notoriously questionable sense of taste, the results were disastrous at best. So far it was only through Kawamura's watchful eye that two catastrophes has been prevented (one involving the oven and wanting to speed things up, and the other baking soda, salt and corn starch), and he hated to think of what the cookies Fuji had decorated looked like. 

Fuji's gingerbread men looked decidedly… odd. Somehow or other Fuji had mangled the cookie cutter, and was now free handing the shapes with a knife that reflected a slightly manic gleam from blue eyes, and while he supposed some people would think the tennis racquets and tennis balls were cute with their green and red frosting, he thought the cup-shaped cookie labeled "Inui's Special Christmas Juice" was pushing it. Fuji's sense of humor was just too demented.

Tezuka sighed from behind him, a slight sound that was closer to a heavy breath than anything else. "Fuji, how much longer is your brother going to be gone?" Tezuka asked.

Fuji set the knife down, and Kikumaru quickly snatched it to keep him from performing anything unholy with it. "Yuuta went to make sure we had enough chips – since someone invited Fudoumine without telling me they were coming, I was a bit concerned," he said, pitching his voice so it could be heard through the living room.

"I didn't mean to, Fuji-senpai!" Momoshirou's voice objected, coming back. "I was-"

"Trying to get Kamio jealous that you had something special planned, and in the end you ended up inviting the whole Fudoumine team," Inui's voice came. "The mistletoe should be put there for maximum efficiency, Momoshirou."

"Mistletoe?" Kikumaru, Kawamura and Oishi echoed, suddenly having visions of what could go wrong. Mistletoe and Inui sounded like a bad combination, because Fuji wasn't the only one who found odd things funny.

"We're all guys here, Inui," Fuji pointed out, smiling pleasantly. He kneaded the dough, squeezing it so it slipped through his fingers in a creepy fashion.

"That makes it more fun. I estimate I'll be able to catch fourteen clueless couples, and three of them will be caught twice. Intentionally."

"Fourteen!" Kikumaru exclaimed. "But… there's us, St. Rudolph's, Hyotei and Fudoumine…" He started to count on his fingers, narrowly missing slicing his pinky off as he forgot he was holding the knife he had rescued from Fuji. "Ow!!!" He began dancing around, bleeding all over the cutting board and the dough he, Fuji and Kawamura had been working with.

"Eiji!" Oishi exclaimed, grabbing a towel and leaning across the island to staunch the bleeding.

"Ow, ow, ow!!"

Fuji sighed as he stared down at the ruined gingerbread. "Guess we need to make another batch."

Tezuka would have rolled his eyes, if he was inclined to that kind of action. Instead, he merely went back to stirring the chocolate chips into the batter. 

*

Ryoma checked the clock, noticing that it was almost six. His teammates had been planning a Christmas party for the last week, and were probably already over at Fuji's place decorating, but he had a family obligation – the traditional family Christmas dinner.

He, Nanako, his father and mother sat around the table with the remnants of a huge meal on the table, idly talking about inconsequential things. They didn't often all see each other, since his mother was very busy with her law practice, and he tended to be quite occupied with his tennis club, but it was… almost nice to see them together. 

Not that he would admit that.

It was weird, being in Japan for this Christmas. For so long he'd been told it was his homeland, but he'd never really thought of it much. Even though his mother and father spoke Japanese at home and followed many Japanese customs, he'd never really thought of coming back, to Japan.

Especially not for Christmas.

He missed the snow. He hadn't realized how much Christmas was a part of his life until the little things were gone, and it was disconcerting to realize that he was really in a different culture. He wasn't "that Japanese American" kid anymore… he was "that kid who used to live in America." 

Maybe the culture shock was finally setting in.

Oblivious to Ryoma's musings, his father was rambling on, something about the Christmas specials they used to watch. "Remember when you were little, and we'd watch Rudolph? Or Frosty?" Nanjirou asked, sighing a bit nostalgically. "You were so cute then – not the brat you are now."

"Be nice, dear," Rinko said to her husband with the patience of long trial. "It's his birthday."

And didn't he know that.

Having a birthday on December 24 really sucked, Ryoma thought for the hundredth time as parents smiled at him. In America, he had been used to getting screwed over on the whole gift thing. People were way too inclined to double up on gifts, and whenever he did get birthday money, he almost invariably spent it on gifts for others for Christmas. Not that his family was Christian or anything, but when you spent your entire life indoctrinated in a culture, you tended to want to participate. He didn't know that many Buddhists in America.

"Ah, but remember? We'd all sit around the house, and wait for the Christmas shows to come on… my favorite was It's a Wonderful Life…" 

His stupid father actually had tears in his eyes now… Ryoma was going to throttle him.

"I liked Miracle on 44th Street," his mother replied.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas!"

"A Christmas Carol!"

"Which version?"

"The one with George C. Scott, of course."

"Bah. I prefer the one with Bill Murray."

"That's Scrooge."

"Is it? How about A Christmas Story?"

"Oh, that's a good one! I think I have a tape…"

Listening to his parents go on and on about Christmas was enough to make Ryoma feel exceedingly homesick for America. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," he said softly, looking down at his feet, where Karupin was twining himself around his owner's ankles.

Nanjirou and Rinko stopped, looking at their son in surprise. It was exceedingly uncharacteristic of their now-thirteen-year-old child to seem nostalgic about anything. "Um, Ryoma? Would you like to watch A Christmas Story? I have it on tape, and I can make some hot chocolate and…" his mother offered.

He shook his head. "I have a party tonight. I should get going…"

"Oh?" His parents exchanged looks that meant They Knew Something Ryoma Didn't. 

Ryoma hated it when they did that.

"I'm leaving," he announced, rising from the table.

*

Every time the doorbell rang, Tezuka cringed inside. Not that he showed it. Right now, though, he was ready to do someone some bodily damage with a tennis racquet, which was most un-Christmas like.

It was all Oishi's fault.

Oishi had decided that team bonding was important, and after hearing that Ryoma's birthday was tonight, he had decided that throwing a birthday-slash-Christmas party would be a great way to spend one of the last days of the year together. Tezuka would have told him that Ryoma probably would have preferred to be left alone, but then Fuji fell in with the scheme.

No one messed with Fuji when Fuji wanted to be amused, unless they had no sense of self-preservation. Wisely, Tezuka had decided to let them do what they wanted, hoping to perform damage control when it became necessary.

When. Not if.

Fuji's parents had obligingly abandoned the house to the Seigaku team for the festivities, but then Fuji had decided that inviting his brother was a must, and of course Yuuta wasn't going to come unless the rest of St. Rudolph's could, and didn't they owe Hyotei for helping them train for Nationals? What should have been a small, intimate party somehow exploded. When Momo arrived that afternoon, announcing that, oh, by the way, Fudoumine would be on the way as well, Tezuka had resorted to a large bottle of aspirin he had begun carrying ever since being named captain of the team.

People were slowly beginning to arrive. Yuuta had returned from his shopping errand, only to begin yelling at his brother over what he had done to the tree.

"Aniki! How can you decorate the tree with tennis balls?" Yuuta demanded, a vein throbbing in his forehead. He pointed at the tree, which had about fifty tennis balls hanging from it with yarn, along with more traditional ornaments.

Fuji gave his younger brother the smile which made so many people want to throttle him. "I thought it was fun. I put glitter on them," he said, pointing out the ones he had decorated.

Fuji was weird, more than one person in the room thought. Kikumaru was staring at the tree, pointing with his freshly bandaged finger as he said something to Oishi which Tezuka was sure he didn't want to hear, while Momoshirou, still in the process of hanging lights with Kaidou's reluctant help, was yelling something about snakes and ladders. Kawamura was conspicuously missing, probably in the kitchen, trying to salvage some of the cookies that they had been baking.

Inui, though, was wearing a family grin that Tezuka knew was trouble. "Our first couple!" he said.

"Huh?" Yuuta asked, having missed the early conversation about mistletoe.

Fuji looked up, and his smile froze for just a second before he glanced at his brother. "It's mistletoe."

"Mistletoe? Aniki, you can't mean-" Yuuta's eyes darted upwards, saw the dreaded berry before his feet took a step backwards, but it was too late.

For lack of a better word, Fuji POUNCED.

One second, the taller boy was standing upright, the next he was buried underneath his smaller, devious older brother, who tackled him to the ground. "ANIKI!"

"Rules are rules!" Fuji said playfully, sitting on Yuuta's chest quite calmly.

By now, the entire room was staring at them. Fuji bent down slowly, leaning his face close to his younger brother's. He smiled at his brother's panicked expression before brushing a light kiss across Yuuta's forehead.

"You're too fun to tease, Yuuta."

Before Yuuta could do anything, Fuji had managed to crawl off of him and vanish into the kitchen. Yuuta lay in shock, unable to believe the attack.

Tezuka decided then and there that he didn't care about damage control, he was going to stay on the couch the entire evening. Right after he checked to make sure there was no mistletoe above him.

Inui blinked for a second. "Maybe now's the time for me to say this. There's eight strategically placed sprigs of mistletoe – one in honor of each team member. There's also one special "Lucky Mistletoe" where you have to French kiss whoever you end up under it with."

"F-french kiss?" Kikumaru stuttered. "How do we know it's the special one?"

"It's the one right next to you, Kikumaru. Just take another step to the right, and you can kiss Oishi…"

"Nyah!" The acrobatic player raced across the room, blushing furiously, but that was just when Yuuta finally managed to get hold of himself.

"ANIKI! I'm going to kill you for inviting your psycho teammates!" Yuuta yelled, coming to his feet and preparing to dash into the kitchen.

BOOM!

The two excitable boys crashed into each other – right under more mistletoe.

"From now on, everyone must at least kiss on the lips," Inui added. His smirk looked more evil than any of them could stand.

Kikumaru and Yuuta stared at each other in horror. It was quite clear neither of them were thrilled about the idea of kissing each other.

Kikumaru took a second to think on it, before shrugging helplessly. "Shut your eyes," Kikumaru said, "and I'll kiss you quick."

"You'll kiss me? I don't think so! Not after what Aniki did! You shut your eyes!"

"Yuuta, I'm older! It'd be weird if you kissed me!"

As Yuuta and Kikumaru argued over who was going to kiss who, the doorbell rang, and Kaidou went to the door to open it.

Mizuki Hajime stood at the door, flanked by Kisarazu Atsushi and Yanagisawa Shinya, who were wearing expressions of curiosity. Evidently, Kikumaru and Yuuta were yelling loudly enough to be heard through the door.

"My, isn't this interesting?" Mizuki said. "Yuuta-kun, how about I kiss you to show you how, then you can show Kikumaru-kun?"

Kikumaru eeped in horror, grabbed Yuuta by the collar and kissed him firmly on the lips before breaking free. His eyes welled up with tears, and he was back across the room, tackling Oishi in a hug. "That was my first kiss!"

Inui's evil laugh echoed through the room as Oishi's own horror-stricken face showed that he realized that he was quite aware that he and Kikumaru had just ended up under the Lucky Mistletoe.

So was Momoshirou. "French him, Oishi-senpai! Show us what the Golden Pair can do!"

"Wh-what?" Kikumaru babbled. "I'm not kissing Oishi in public!"

"Then you'll do it in private?"

"Yes- No- Hey! That's none of your business!" 

Mizuki's laughter echoed through the room as Kikumaru argued with Momoshirou, Oishi tried to calm his partner down, and Inui muttered something about forgetting to adjust for the inherent chaos having the party at Fuji's house would bring, and how he should have doubled his figures.

Tezuka gave into the temptation to bury his head in his hands.

*

Half an hour later, Inui was adjusting his figures much, much higher. So far, eight couples had managed to fall under the mistletoe, and the party still wasn't in full swing. Ryoma still hadn't arrived, and of Hyotei, only Oshitari and Mukahi had appeared with Jirou in tow, but it seemed that everyone else was there. The Fuji family had a big house, but even with all the space, the press of people was nearly crushing.

Inui loved it. He'd already filled twenty pages full of things he hadn't know. It was too bad they hadn't let him make a special juice, but research had shown that spiking the punch at this kinds of functions was expected. So of course he'd taken it on himself…. All in the name of science, of course.

In another hour, things were going to get very, very interesting.

Tezuka seemed to have attached himself permanently to the largest sofa, and no one quite dared get near him. It was a pity, because Inui was sure it would have been quite amusing to watch him kiss someone.

Kikumaru had protested kissing his partner for ten minutes, until Oishi had finally just seemed to get fed up (good data – even Oishi's seemingly unending patience did have a limit), and had grab the acrobatic player's face in his hands and given him the kiss of the lifetime.

The room, which had by the time gained the rest of St. Rudolph's and all of Fudomine with the exception of Shinji, had gone utterly silent in shock.

Kikumaru pulled back slowly, blinking his eyes slowly as he tried to orient himself. "I-I…"

"Shall we get something to eat?"

Kikumaru nodded wordlessly, obediently following Oishi to the snack table. He was quiet for all of eleven minutes, which Inui realized topped his old record by two minutes. Interesting… if you wanted Kikumaru to shut up, just get Oishi to kiss him. Now how to put that to use…

Fuji had, by this time, reappeared, carrying a tray of cookies which had apparently been deemed edible. Inui glanced at them a bit nervously, knowing that Fuji had helped cook them. He trusted Fuji's cooking just about as much as he trusted his own juices – and that was not at all.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Fuji asked. He laughed as Kamio ended up bumping into Kaneda under the mistletoe, who had been getting a plate of food. "That's an interesting one."

"Not really," Inui said, watching as Kaneda shut his eyes as Kamio kissed him quickly. Kamio looked utterly disgusted and annoyed, and Kaneda looked relieved that he didn't end up dead. "Kamio is going to be paying more attention now, which means he may be avoiding some of the people I had been hoping to research his relationship with."

"Give him a few more glasses of punch," Fuji advised sweetly.

Inui gulped. Fuji would figure it out, wouldn't he?

"It'll be fun," Fuji said. "However, if anyone gets sick, YOU are the one cleaning it up." Fuji's eyes opened wide, displaying uncompromising sapphire depths, and Inui agreed quickly, knowing that ticking Fuji off would be a very, very bad idea.


	2. Part 2

By the time Ryoma managed to make it out of the house, it was nearly nine. Somehow or other, his parents had managed to delay him for nearly three hours, reminding him of things he needed to do. First he had to help decorate the tree, then there was the birthday gifts, then his father needed to be saved from Karupin, who had NOT been happy to be presented with a muzzle (Ryoma swore that Karupin was ten times smarter than Nanjirou was anyway) and just when he had been about to leave, he remembered the gift he had to bring to the party sitting in his room.  
  
Wrapping a gift for the exchange Kawamura was organizing was particularly trying. Somehow his usual coordination managed to desert him when faced with the shiny mylar paper and fancy ribbon his mother had bought. Ryoma, though, refused to admit defeat, and spent thirty minutes figuring out how to wrap the perfect present. It wasn't important, of course, but there was no way he'd ever be less than perfect at anything. It was a bit annoying, to be so obsessive-compulsive about things, but no one was ever going to get the better at him at anything.  
  
He did manage to produce a present that could have been on display at a store, of course. If he had been less stubborn and asked his mother to wrap it for him, it would have saved him a heck a lot of time, but "Echizen Ryoma" and "stubborn" were synonyms to people who knew him.  
  
It meant it was well after nine by the time he finally arrived at Fuji's house, and the party had already been in swing for over two hours. Every light in the rather large house seemed to be on, and he could hear the noise from the end of the walk. He wondered why the heck Tezuka hadn't shut them up yet. Briefly he considered turning around, but some people might consider it running away.  
  
Of course, no one knew he had arrived, and if he said his family decided they wanted him home to celebrate..  
  
He was about to march right back home when he heard a familiar, loathsome voice from behind him. "If it isn't Seigaku's brat," an amused voice said.  
  
Ryoma did not cringe. He was merely trying to get his ears a bit more deeply into his scarf, because it was cold outside. "If it isn't the monkey king," he said, without turning his head to acknowledge Atobe Keigo's arrival. Drat, now that he'd been seen, he'd have to go inside.  
  
Atobe came over to Ryoma's side, and Ryoma noticed that his entourage seemed to be a bit smaller than usual. Kabaji was at his shoulder, of course, and Ootori and Shishido were with him, but the rest of the Hyotei seemed to be missing. "Lose a few members?" Ryoma asked sarcastically.  
  
Atobe merely cocked an eyebrow. "Everyone else should be here. Mukahi and Oshitari had to bring Jirou, and I think Hiyoshi probably left fifteen minutes before we did. You're running late, aren't you?"  
  
Ryoma shrugged, wishing he was wearing his baseball cap so he could pull it down. Looking into Atobe's eyes was annoying. "Family," he said abruptly.  
  
Atobe's smirk was as familiar as the sunset. He opened his mouth to say something that would probably make Ryoma wish that murder wasn't illegal, so Ryoma just headed straight for the house, deciding the probable chaos inside was better than dealing with the guaranteed egotism outside.  
  
Atobe, of course, wasn't going to take being ignored. He shouldered up to Ryoma, staring down at the first year with irritation. "Didn't your senpai ever teach you any manners?" he asked.  
  
Ryoma just glared.  
  
"I think there's something wrong with Seigaku, if first years don't learn to respect their elders. Now, in Hyotei, we make sure everyone knows their proper place," Atobe continued as Kabaji opened the door for them.  
  
It was absolute chaos inside as they stepped through. Kikumaru and Gakuto seemed to be having a flexibility contest in the middle of the room, with Oshitari watching with amusement and Oishi babbling something about how bodies weren't supposed to bend that way. Ryoma rathered agreed, especially after seeing Kikumaru manage to put his right foot behind his left shoulder even as he remained standing.  
  
Still, that was relatively tame compared to seeing Kawamura trying to force- feed Ishida cookies. Somehow or other, Kawamura had managed to pin Fudoumine's strong man to the floor, and was straddling him, forcing gingerbread down his throat. "YOU EAT!" he bellowed in English.  
  
Odd, Ryoma thought, that there was no tennis racquet in sight.  
  
Stranger still was seeing Fuji's brother (the guy Ryoma had beat - he never could remember his name) hiding from. the guy Fuji had beat.. The one who was always sleeping. Hadn't he already beaten Fuji's brother? What was the point in talking to someone you had already defeated - heck, why was he conscious? However, the Hyotei player seemed wide awake and quite determined to throw himself at Fuji's brother, who seemed equally determined to find a good hiding place.  
  
Something REALLY weird was going on here, Ryoma thought. That thought was confirmed when he saw what was going on in the corner to the right.  
  
Momoshirou and Kamio were on a couch, their arms around each other's shoulders, bawling and proclaiming their year-long fight had merely been a misunderstanding, and that the other really wasn't that bad, and whoever messed with the other would know have to get through their new best friend. Most of their words were so slurred that it was clear they were quite drunk.  
  
Crap. Who would be stupid enough to give a party of young teens alcohol? the first year tennis genius wondered. Glancing over, he saw Inui scribbling in his notebook, and swallowed. Oh, shit. he thought, realizing immediately that the data collector probably had something to do with it - and if Inui was involved, avoided it was going to be very difficult.  
  
Atobe seemed to have drawn the same conclusion he did. "Interesting," he said.  
  
"What's even more interesting is you two are standing under the mistletoe," Inui said.  
  
Ryoma stared up, and sure enough, there it was. The diva looked about to protest, but Ryoma merely sighed. "Hurry up and get it over with," he told Atobe.  
  
His lack of protest shocked everyone near enough to hear, but Atobe merely smirked. "You would be eager to kiss my glorious self, wouldn't you?"  
  
"Not really. But if I make a big deal out of it, they'll make it worse," Ryoma said practically.  
  
Tachibana, who had been near enough to overhear, disguised a laugh by coughing in his hand. "He does have a point, Atobe-san," he admitted. "It's not fun for Inui and Mizuki if he doesn't react."  
  
"Point," Atobe admitted. He rolled his eyes and deposited a brief kiss on Ryoma's lips.  
  
It was only through extreme force of will that Ryoma didn't shudder.  
  
"Seventeen!" everyone in the room yelled.  
  
"Huh?" Ryoma asked.  
  
"We've been keeping count," Fuji said, appearing at their side. He motioned for Ryoma to follow him, and the first year did, a little bit nervously. "Inui put mistletoe up all over the place, and bets are on how many people are going to get caught. Be careful of that corner over there," he said, pointing to the corner closest to the kitchen, "if you get caught there, you have to French kiss."  
  
"This is so childish."  
  
"We're not much older than children." Fuji's smile seemed to be particularly wicked. "I have an early birthday gift." From somewhere behind his back, he pulled out a can on Ponta, handing it over like it was the crown jewels of England. "Happy birthday."  
  
Ryoma blinked at the slightly cool can in his hand. "Thanks," he said, trying not to few gypped at his senpai's cheapness.  
  
"Oh, I have something more, but this comes with a bit of advice. Don't drink the punch," Fuji said, his eyes opening a bit.  
  
"Eighteen!"  
  
Fuji and Ryoma turned around, just in time to see an extremely embarrassed Kaidoh squirm away from Kabaji, who had apparently had picked him up off his feet. The mamushi was hissing as he raced for the kitchen, smacking into various people, forcing Mizuki into Uchimura and Ryoma somehow wasn't surprised to find himself launched into Fuji's waiting arms.  
  
"Nineteen!" people yelled as Mizuki kissed Uchimura with a resigned expression before turning waiting to see Ryoma get kissed for the second time in five minutes.  
  
Fuji wrapped his arms around Ryoma's waist and leaned in closer. "Birthday kiss for the birthday boy," he said with contentment.  
  
Ryoma sighed, and Fuji chose that moment to swoop in and take the kiss. Ryoma's eyes went wide as he felt Fuji's tongue probe his mouth. His body froze and Fuji kissed him for a good thirty seconds before releasing him.  
  
"Fuji, that's not the lucky mistletoe," Inui said after a moment from across the room.  
  
"Doesn't mean I can't kiss him the way I want to, does it?" Fuji asked, and his hand gently patted Ryoma's cheek. "Twenty!" he announced smugly since no one else seemed inclined to.  
  
*  
  
Mizuki was an observant person, and he quickly figured out someone had spiked the punch, especially after noticing how Fuji and Inui were avoiding it - however, he already had already drank two glasses, and his head was feeling slightly fuzzy. Not enough to be drunk, but he definitely had a good buzz going.  
  
He tended to be amused by most things, but right now things were striking him as downright hysterical. Of course, the fact that the situation had rapidly deteriorated into utter insanity meant that he probably had a good reason to be.  
  
"Twenty-eight!"  
  
He turned his head in time to see Oishi and Eiji wind up under the special mistletoe again, and this time the kiss they were exchanging wasn't at all hesitant. The slight flush they each had in their cheeks meant they probably had been partaking of the punch, but the way Oishi's hand was wandering up the back of Kikumaru's shirt made Mizuki push his prediction of when they would officially "come out" up by a few months - till tomorrow. After this party, no one would believe it if they tried to claim they were "just friends."  
  
How fun!  
  
He blinked, checking his watch, and started to time the kiss. It'd be interesting to know how long the two could hold their breath, since they didn't seem experienced enough to know you weren't supposed to kiss THAT WAY.  
  
He's just clocked two minutes when a loud "TWENTY NINE!" sounded from the other side of the room, and he had to roll his eyes. Yuuta had finally been cornered by Jiroh.  
  
"Um, Jiroh-san. ah!"  
  
Yuuta's squirming only seemed to excite Jiroh, who seemed to have "magic hands" as well as "magic volley" skills. No matter how Yuuta struggled, the volley specialist managed to cling.  
  
It was especially amusing to Mizuki, since Yuuta held the record for being stuck under the mistletoe five times. Someone would think he was doing it intentionally. if they didn't realize his devious older brother was slyly manipulating the room so Yuuta kept getting cornered.  
  
*  
  
Inui was a bit amazed at all the chaos one bottle of gin had caused until he realized that the punch bowl had been refilled multiple times. Therefore, people either had very low alcohol tolerances or someone else was continuing to add liquor.  
  
After seeing Fuji replace the punch bowl, he knew what the answer was. Fuji Syuusuke was being thoroughly amused by the whole situation, and chances were that he was the culprit. He adjusted his calculations when he saw a giggling Momoshirou very clumsily slip something else into the punch bowl. Luckily no one else noticed, but he winced inside. The cocktail was positively lethal.  
  
So far, he estimated that only he, Fuji, Ryoma, Atobe and Tezuka were the only ones completely sober. Tezuka hadn't moved from the couch, grimly watching as the party descended into utter bedlam, and Atobe had apparently picked up on what was happening at once. Fuji had, for some reason, warned Ryoma was happening, and Inui and Fuji had known from the start.  
  
That left nineteen drunk or nearly drunk teenage boys.  
  
"Forty-two!"  
  
Tachibana. and Akazawa?  
  
His brain nearly broke as the two captains good naturedly kissed each other.  
  
"Fuji, isn't it time for the gift exchange?" Inui asked after a moment, calling across the room to Fuji.  
  
Fuji looked around. "They're drunk enough to be in good moods, but not too drunk to pass out. about right," he mused. "Everyone, come here!" he called. "Present time!"  
  
Fitting over twenty people into the room was a squeeze, and Tezuka finally had to yield space on his couch to Fuji and Atobe (who both received glares). Fuji grabbed Ryoma and squeezed him protectively between him and their captain, and everyone else arranged themselves as Kawamura pulled out a large black trash bag.  
  
"LISTEN UP, PEOPLE!" he yelled, and everyone immediately fell quiet. "Reach in, pull out a gift! Get your own, put it out. No opening until everyone had one, and we start with team captains!"  
  
Kawamura was deliciously direct when drunk, Inui noted. It was like giving him a tennis racquet. To save on money, everyone had bought one generic gift and thrown it into a bag by the door, and now they were pulling them out. It divorced a bit of the uncertainty about gift buying, and saved a lot of money.  
  
The bag was passed around quickly, and some people felt around a bit before pulling one out while others carelessly pulled them out. Inui noted that it took Mizuki the longest time while Tezuka dipped his hand in and pulled out what was on top as though it was going to bite him - and knowing what some of the players had probably bought, it wasn't a surprise.  
  
When everyone finished, the four captains looked at each other and shrugged. Two were sober, and the other two had bright eyes from the punch. Akazawa wasn't that much of a surprise, but Tachibana was going to be interesting.  
  
"On three?" Tachibana proposed.  
  
"I prefer we do it by ourselves," Atobe said.  
  
"You would," Akazawa said.  
  
"Atobe, you count," Tezuka said decisively, settling the issue.  
  
Atobe was a bit mollified by that. "One, two, three!"  
  
The four tore their packages, though Tezuka used his fingernails to peel the tape away to avoid damaging the paper. Laughter rang through the room as people saw that Akazawa had somehow pulled out a leopard print thong.  
  
His face flushed brilliantly as he tried to hide it, but it was too late. Everyone had seen it, and half the room was in hysterics. "Model it, buchou!" Yanagisawa called out.  
  
"I doubt it would fit," Mukahi said from across the room from where he was leaning against Oshitari's knees. "It's a small."  
  
Akazawa looked like he was about to lunge across the room to throttle Hyotei's famed acrobatic player, but Atobe merely laughed. "I hope my present is better." On finding a box of tampons, he turned to look at Mizuki with uncanny instinct. "Very funny."  
  
"I figured that with all the mood swings that people who would be attending here had, it would probably go to someone who use it. I can't think of someone better suited to it," he said.  
  
Atobe glanced at Kabaji. "Kabaji."  
  
Kabaji rose to his feet. "Uso."  
  
Mizuki cringed as the huge second year approached him. "No violence!"  
  
Tezuka sighed, but opened his present next, and was relieved to find it only had a package of socks. "Thanks."  
  
"How boring!" Kikumaru protested.  
  
"It's useful," Tezuka said, and he was relieved that it wasn't any worse. He ignored the sight of Mizuki running around, and when Kabaji accidentally cornered Mizuki under the mistletoe, he shut his eyes.  
  
"Forty-three!"  
  
The others began to open their gifts. Some of them were just as sick and twisted, like the condoms (to which Oishi got no ending of teasing) and edible body paints (which actually seemed to satisfy Shishido for some reason), but most were more practical, unimaginative things like tennis balls, grip tape (provoking a long whine from Shinji), arcade coupons and CDs. However, when Momoshirou managed to unwrap his gift, the resulting hilarity made Inui's permanent records.  
  
"Oh, this looks like a video!" he said with pleasure. "Akira, wanna watch it with me?" he asked his new best friend.  
  
Echizen huffed, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Sure thing, Momo-chan! What is it?" Kamio leaned heavily on  
  
"It's. Gay Sex for Beginners?" Momoshirou squeaked as he dropped the video like it was a hot potato.  
  
"I'm not watching that with you!"  
  
"I didn't know what it was!" Momoshirou protested.  
  
"Sure you didn't!" Kamio protested. He leaned forward and started to yell again, and before he knew it he and Momoshirou were locked in a lip lock.  
  
"Where's the mistletoe?" Shinji asked in confusion. "I thought you had to kiss someone under the mistletoe? Of course, Kamio kissed me without the mistletoe, but that was last week, and."  
  
*  
  
Fuji sighed as over half of his guest lay sleeping on his floor. His parents had gone to a hotel for some "quality time" and his sister was with her boyfriend on a trip to Hokkaido, so that was one blessing. Seeing drunken tennis players passed out wouldn't do much with his social standing.  
  
He mentally made a count of who had managed to survive the evening: himself, Atobe, Tezuka, Inui, Echizen, Kabaji, Mizuki, Ohtori and Shishido. It was kind of amusing that none of Fudoumine had managed to make it through the evening, but none of them had noticed the spiked punch until it was too late. It really was a pity about Yuuta, though. He probably should have warned his brother.  
  
Such a pity.  
  
Tezuka was still planted on the couch, which Echizen sitting right beside him, surveying the carnage with a resigned expression. Only Nomura, Sakurai and Kaidou had ended up throwing up, and Fuji had seen to it that Inui had cleaned up the mess. Inui was now preparing a special headache remedy which would be ready when everyone woke up in the morning.  
  
Kabaji was helping to pick people up and store them in various places under Atobe's less-than gracious direction, but Atobe seemed to be more amused about the situation then anything. Atobe's family had gone to Europe for the holiday, and Fuji had offered to let him stay for the evening, which he actually seemed to appreciate.  
  
"Of course, we need to get everyone else out of the way," Atobe said, still perfectly in control, and began ordering his underclassman to help him organize.  
  
Fuji wasn't sure quite why Tezuka hadn't abandoned ship yet. Ohtori and Shishido had left about fifteen minutes before, muttering something about midnight mass. He hadn't realized it, but Ohtori's father was apparently Christian.  
  
"Are we having fun yet?" he asked Atobe as Kabaji dragged Kikumaru and Oishi into the den.  
  
"It was amusing," he said. "I assume you were responsible for Momoshirou's gift?"  
  
Fuji gave him a smile. "Why would you say that?"  
  
Atobe pointed his fingers at his eyes. "Because I can see," he said, smirking.  
  
"Really? Do you see that?" Fuji asked, raising his eyes to the ceiling.  
  
Mistletoe.  
  
"Interesting."  
  
"Isn't it?"  
  
*  
  
Tezuka glanced at his watch, and then at the boy beside him. Echizen Ryoma seemed completely unconcerned over how late it was getting, but it was nearing midnight. "Come, I'll walk you home," he said. "I don't think I want to be around here when everyone wakes up with their hangovers."  
  
Ryoma nodded without a word, rising to his feet. He was careful to make sure that he followed Tezuka at a safe distance to avoid getting caught under more mistletoe.  
  
The wind outside was cold and brisk, but Tezuka seemed completely unaffected as he set a steady pace. Ryoma walked quietly beside him, feeling relieved to get out of Fuji's madhouse. The party had been amusing, especially after being safely seated next to his captain and the tensai. But there was a strange stillness right now, and Tezuka's presence seemed to be reassuring and calming.  
  
"Did you have a good birthday, Echizen?" Tezuka asked suddenly, his breath forming white clouds on the air.  
  
"Sure," Ryoma said. It had been as any of his other birthdays had been - nearly overwhelmed with the Christmas festivities, with a few people remember that it was his birthday.  
  
A slight smile tugged on Tezuka's lips. "We got you a group gift, which they wanted to give you separate. Unfortunately, I don't think they realized the punch was going to be spiked. I'll make Inui do laps for that one."  
  
Ryoma almost made a remark how Tezuka wasn't captain anymore and couldn't do that, but somehow he didn't doubt Tezuka would have the power to make it happen. "Thanks."  
  
Tezuka, came to a halt in the middle of the street to pull a small box wrapped in shiny yellow birthday paper out of his pocket and hand it over to Ryoma. Ryoma was thankful it wasn't dressed in Christmas paper - a small detail, but important. His face was carefully blank as dug into it, pulling it open.  
  
"Woah," he said softly. "A ticket to Japan Open," he said. "That's not till next September."  
  
Tezuka looked at the ticket Ryoma held. "We were able to get good seats. The entire team is planning on going then - we hope you'll have good news about another national championship, then."  
  
Ryoma stared at the gift, realizing what it really symbolized. Continued friendship - a promise that even though the third years were graduating, the team would still remain in touch. "Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
The midnight bells started to sound, and Ryoma looked up at the sky. "My birthday's over. It's Christmas," he said.  
  
Tezuka noticed something completely different. Around them, the faintest hint of snow was beginning to drift down, a bare trace that only the truly observant would notice.  
  
"It's snowing," Tezuka said softly, unable to believe it.  
  
Ryoma's eyes went wide, and he threw his head back, hoping to feel the cool whiteness on his face. He had missed the snow, here in Japan. He hadn't dared hope for a white Christmas. "Snow!"  
  
Perhaps it was the moment, perhaps it was Christmas magic, but Tezuka found himself leaning forward and kissing Ryoma, a soft brush of the lips that spoke far more of affection than the mistletoe game Inui had instigated at Fuji's house. Around them, the snow thickened, but Ryoma leaned into the embrace, for once feeling like he wasn't a stranger in a strange land.  
  
Maybe he really had come home for Christmas. 


End file.
